Closure of Circuit Court Clerk’s office in Corbin creating confusion

When it comes to the Whitley Circuit Clerk’s Office and the Whitley County Clerk’s Office, there is often quite a bit of confusion.

People get the two offices confused “a lot,” noted Whitley County Clerk Carolyn Willis, who said it is “very, very common” for people to confuse the two offices.

As a matter of fact, it is so common that when people call the phone line at Willis’ office, one of the first things that she tells callers in a recorded response is that if they are calling about paying a fine or jury duty, then they need to hang up and call the other office.

In light of the fact that the Whitley Circuit Court Clerk’s Office in Corbin is closing at month’s end, Willis’ Whitley County Clerk’s Office in Corbin is fielding a lot of questions from people thinking that it is closing.

It is not.

“Like last week, customers were coming in, ‘Why are you all closing? Are you closing the 10th?’” Willis said adding that her Corbin staff told her it was about every other customer, who can through the door.

The Whitley County Clerk’s satellite office in Corbin has been in existence for 30 plus years. Willis said that it was already in existence when she started working at the county clerk’s office in 1994 and wasn’t brand new then.

Willis noted that you can do nearly everything at her Corbin office that you can do at the Williamsburg, such as getting a marriage license, get a notary issued, pay your car taxes, etc.

The most common exception is getting a hunting or fishing license, which can only be done at the main office in Williamsburg though, and some more out of the ordinary things, such as merchant permits.

The difference between the county clerk’s office and the circuit court clerk’s office isn’t as complicated as some people make it.

If you need to get a marriage license, pay your car taxes, license your vehicle or look up or file a deed, then you need to go the county clerk’s office.

If you need to pay a speeding ticket, file a divorce, get an Emergency Protective Order (E.P.O.) or probate a will, you go to the circuit clerk’s office.

Through Friday afternoon of last week, if you needed a driver’s license, you went circuit clerk’s office too. Now driver’s licenses are issued through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet at regional offices, online, and through pop-up sites in counties, which don’t have regional offices.